Juniata sentinel and Republican. [volume] (Mifflintown, Juniata County, Pa.) 1873-1955, 1887-09-14
TURKISH BEGGARS.
How Mendicants and Bearers of Bur
dens Are Organized in Constan-
tinopIe.

Generally the eye first rests upoL
one of the numerous beggars, who are
always at hand, muttering their words
of praise to the donor of penny, or
their curses to the unheeding passen-
ger. The majority are blind, or pre-
tend to lie so, and each one has his pre-
ferred spot, where he sits in his rags,
perfectly oblivious to all but his own
wants. Others are hideously manned
and the offensive part is always held
up to view i'll the hope of exciting pity.
These are mostly men. The women
and children have their beaten track,
over which rAey follow people and i'm
plore aims. They seem to 60 no fur
ther, and often by the emphatic Tepe-
tltion of 'hiddy git" we rid ourselves
of them sooner. We seldom see them
rewarded, except by Turkish subjects,
and 1t is said that they give freely, as
the Koran requires it of them. They
are particularly generous on all days of
special religious observance. AT such
times these beggars congregate In the
most attractive places, and doubtless
make large sums. We learn that many
of these pitIable-Iooking creatures are
| III reality very well of, and only don
| their poverty for the sake of trade,
| They have meetings. and there decide
| where to take up their positions and
| how to divide their spOils.
The peculiar tread of a mans heavy
| feet eXcites our wonder, and We look
only to be horrified at seeing human
| being bowed under a load that would
make Il horse groap. Often, too, three
| or four of these "hamals" work to-
| gether, carrying their burdens by
means of long poles. They have theII
Iesting-place about half way across the
bridge, and to Us 1t is a great relief To
see them there having a little breathing
| spell, and what an immense relief 1t
must be to them. People here con,
| slider them not much more than beasts
| OF burden, and thus their life Is Sc
| much the more pitlable. They dress II
a very clumsy manner in coarse loose
clothes and the weight OF their great
fiaJ leather shoes must be something
astonishing, while their leatheT-cu5h'
iOned pack saddles alone would b
heavy enough for an ordinary person
Each locality has its company of la
mails, and they all live together or 4;
common fund and hence work int,
each others hands. For instance, VI
can not get just one of them to draw
water because the others want TO carr.
it from distance and have US pay then
by the load. II We wish two hamal
to work for us they make great fus
and want the whole company to com
and bother, for the wages are TO be div
ded no matter how many or low few d
the work. They have one head ma
who does all the managing.
They are not allowed 10 bring thei
families from the interior, and the
seem TO lose all their individuality liy
ing huddled together SO, without an
OF the comforts or pleasures Of home
We can not imagine harder physlca
work than they do, and yet their pa
seems to De in the inverse ratio, for
| Is very little each one gets when
whole company shares it. Article
that are too bulky tor them to hand
are transported on the backs of horse
, and donkeys. What would We 1
America think of seeing bricks, stick
OF wood and even long pieces of lumbe
tied together and carried this way in
stead OF wagons? l have seen a dOuke
so covered with boxes that the amin.
itself was entirely hidden. The ven
GerS Cf bread. meat, fruit, etc, carr
| their wares on their heads or on don
keys, according to the quantity the
have to dispose of. Their cries can l.
t heard almost from one eni OF th
bridge TO the other, but one must know
N,uaJ they sell before their monOtOu
can be guessed. The most pictuTeSqu
| OF these vendors Is the Persian, WIZ
: his long, fur-lined cloak and one snOuI
der covered with his rugs and skin
which are always so attractive.